Chapter Text
"It was a fine sunny day, the birds are chirping and the sun is not too hot-" started a woman with blonde hair and misty blue eyes, her light pink dress accenting her fair complexion making eyes turn her way, she is currently sitting by one of the outside chairs of a particular coffee shop, drinking her matcha tea while scoping the area, her trusty driver...the man with greying hair sitting diligently opposite her, looked at her when she added,
"--yet," she slammed her dainty hands on the table, "I cannot find what I am looking for!" the woman sighed for the umpteenth time making her driver sigh after her.
"Madame, I don't think the Master will be ecstatic to know you're out and about, it's just been days since you have been discharged from the hospital and---"
"Oh shush, Ivan! He won't be mad if you don't tell him, besides, my shoulder is fixed now, it's not like I'm out here doing a barrel roll, I have learned my lesson, the next time I try something of similar I'll make sure there are soft cushions to catch my fall," the woman said in a matter of fact tone while her eyes continued looking around, her driver gasping in horror with her words, he was about to say something when the woman suddenly sprang up from her chair, knocking it down.
Her eyes shining and her hands clasped together looking at the other side of the road, her sights glued to one unsuspecting man with striking white hair.
"I FINALLY FOUND YOU!" She shouted before running towards the road, her driver scrambling to go after her but wasn't able to because of the bike riders that happened to cross by, thank God that this road isn't busy or else both he and his madame will both take a charge.
"YOUNG MAN! I NEED YOU!!" Valeria, the blonde beautiful woman shouted as she elegantly ran towards the white haired man, ignoring all the surprised looks from everyone around them .
Julian let out a sigh as he walked down the street, thinking back of an earlier incident that led to him getting fired from his latest job. It had been the usual morning crowd in the supermarket and Julian was busy restocking the shelves with the newly arrived goods when he felt someone bumping into him and the shrill shriek was almost instantaneous. His mind was a little hazy from the smack to the head he received and the rest of the event flowed through him. He remembered being grilled by the managers over the presumed slight that involved the shrieking customer and how he was lucky the lady didn't want to press charge for his action. Julian doesn't know what the hell he had done to deserve being treated like that but he just accepted his last pay stub and left the place before it could escalate.
The wind blew, sending his long white hair flying around. Right he had lost his hair tie when that crazy lady had grabbed him by the ponytail during the scuffle. Of course Julian didn't fight back against the one sided assault because he just knew it would only make the situation look worse to those watching since he was a man going to a frail old lady. He didn't fight back because he knew just how far people were willing to escalate things and that was not the first time people just assumed he was some delinquent based on his features and physique.
The pinging of his phone pulled him away from his thoughts and he fished his phone out of his pocket. A smile graced his lips when violet eyes skimmed over the texts he just received from his two younger siblings in their shared group chat. Sasha was as usual, complaining about her classes and asking him to buy some sweets for her on the way back, the extra love and begging emojis she tacked to her text made him smile in fondness. Her text was soon followed by Damian's sticker of SpongeBob that mimed her text mockingly and the group chat burst into a barrage of arguments that sent his phone pinging rapidly.
'Stop and focus on your teachers. I know the two of you are still in the middle of class right now.' Julian typed, his text being the only proper sentences amidst the barrage of short forms, emojis and stickers. That managed to make them stop and apologise to him. Julian couldn't help but chuckle, almost picturing them pouting to their phone screen as they apologised. 'I'm making dinner tonight, anything you two want to eat?' His question sent his two siblings on a frenzy to fill the chat with their respective suggestions. Julian rarely ever cooked now since he was too busy with work and Sasha had taken up that responsibility but he does try to cook for them whenever he was available. Since he just got fired from his job, he had all the time in the world before he needed to find a new one.
Julian was about to respond back when he heard the shouting but he didn't look up from his phone because he assumed it was for someone else but when he heard the word 'need' his head immediately jerked up in search of the presumed danger this lady was running from. He saw a rather well built man chasing after this well dressed lady and Julian's protective instinct kicked in full blast as he moved to put himself between the lady and the man chasing after her. "Stay behind me, Ma'am." Julian said as he squared up to look at the man. "And you, what business do you have with this lady?" He demanded.
"I need you to---" Valeria was about to say when she was gently but protectively manoeuvred to hide behind the white haired young man that she has her sights on, making her look at the back of her supposed to be hero, Ivan stopping to catch a bit of breath, his age catching up on him despite being still built well.
'Is he trying to protect me? My oh my!' Valeria put her hand on her chest, swooning at the young man and praising herself for picking him out of the crowd.
Ivan however....
"Young Man---" the driver said, catching his breath, "You got it wrong----gasp---the madame is---"
"I am correct! You're perfect, just perfect!" Valeria shouted once again, catching the attention of the two men, she quickly grabbed the young man's hand, holding it tightly against hers, her eyes shimmering as she looked at the man before her expectantly, praising herself silently at her discerning eyes for valuable things...yes...yes this can truly work out!
"Young man! I need you to marry my son!" She exclaimed that earned yet another surprise reaction from the people around.
"Oh my god...." Ivan let out a defeated sigh, finally caught his breath and just shook his head from his employer's crazy shenanigan.
Julian was perplexed as he watched the ongoing interaction because now that he relaxed from his knee jerk reaction to shield the lady, he finally noticed that she was not in distress and that the man that Julian had assumed was chasing her was only trying to catch up to her. Now that he looked more closely, the older man had dressed up more like a body guard and the lady certainly dressed fancily enough to afford having a bodyguard following after her. Concluding that the man was not a threat to the lady, Julian relaxed his stance, dropping the arm that he had used as a barricade between the man and the woman.
"I apologise. I just assumed..." Julian was quick to apologise for his presumption to the man who was still trying to catch his breath and stepped away. Well he tried to but was stopped by the woman as she grabbed his hand. Julian faltered, uncertain on how to react at being grabbed by another older lady after the bad encounter he had earlier and the woman certainly appeared influential enough to make him disappear if he slighted her in any way.
It took Julian a moment to process her exclaimed words because it was just too sudden and bizarre that he thought he must have gotten a concussion from the smack to the head he had received earlier and was hearing things. 'I mean, who would publicly propose a marriage in public for their own son?' Julian thought to himself and from the look of it, the son was not even around to witness this.
Julian gently placed a free hand on top of the woman's hands that were both clasping his right hand and he looked at her with an apologetic expression as he gently said. "Ma'am I think you're misunderstanding something, I am in fact a man as you said and I don't think your son would appreciate being arranged to marry a stranger." He was careful in choosing his words, trying to not disappoint this eccentric lady too much with his refusal. Julian smiled softly as he patted her hand.
"Oh my, you're so gentle too, a perfect fit for my Kael," Valeria exclaimed, the adoring expression not leaving her face as if not hearing Julian's calm rejection to her proposal...and it also seems she won't take no for an answer.
"Madame---"
"Oh it doesn't matter, man-woman, on this day and the age the only thing that matters is that two people fit each other perfectly," the blonde said in her usual matter of fact tone before grabbing Julian's hand once again, clasping it tightly on her dainty but strong hands, "Oh please! Please! Please! Just come with me and meet him, I'm sure you'll like him too!" She begged, she even had the expression to accompany her words, her misty blue eyes round and glassy.
"It won't take much of your time, if you think you can't really do it then I will compensate you for your time, I'll even bring you back to your home! Just please even for a while," she added, making a sad yet hopeful face to which her bodyguard just sighed again...it seems the old man is ageing every time he lets a sigh out.
"Madame, we should hurry back, we shouldn't get in the way of this young lad, he might be busy and we're holding him up here," Ivan tried to persuade the woman, now standing beside her and coaxing her to let go of Julian's hand but when he did so, the woman just gave him a disapproving glare before returning to her pitiful expression directed towards Julian.
"Please," she begged again, well...she will persuade him no matter what and Ivan knows once his lady has set her mind to do one thing, she'll see it through to the end, she wasn't even acknowledging the weird looks the people around are giving them.
Julian was flustered when what he said clearly flew over the woman's head, as if she refused to listen to reason and not accepting his gentle refusal. He felt conflicted on how to extricate himself from this bizarre situation he found himself in because it was obvious this woman refused to accept no for an answer and Julian was weak against the watery look that glazed over her eyes. As a man raised by a single mother, Julian always had weak spots against older ladies and his heart ached in guilt when this woman begged so profusely.
And from the look of the way she was behaving, the lady appeared to have some screws loose and was not exactly right in the head. Julian could only assume because he was really in over his head here and the crowd's gawking was getting to him. He felt uncomfortable having so many people whispering and pointing at the public spectacle they made themselves into. Feeling a little overwhelmed, Julian couldn't help but give into the silent public pressure just to get this embarrassing spectacle over with.
With an even more gentler hand in consideration to the woman's presumed senility, Julian carefully took hold of her hands that were holding onto his hand like a vice grip. He gently moved her hands to the crook of his arm, making it look like he was escorting her instead of her holding onto him. "Alright, Ma'am. I think we can talk about this somewhere private instead of in the street." Julian said as slowly started leading them away from the gathered crowd.
Since he already has the rest of the day free after getting fired, Julian might as well spend his afternoon doing something productive like accompanying this seemingly frail lady who had latched onto him. He had nothing better to do and it doesn't seem like it would hurt to listen to what this lady had in mind because she looked desperate enough to beg him in public. While he was no goodie two shoes, leaving this lady after she had begged so much, left him with a bitter taste in his mouth. "Ma'am, while I appreciate the good impression you have of me, I don't think it would be appropriate to force a marriage onto your son like this." Julian reasoned.
Valeria's face lit up when her persuasion finally worked towards Julian, happily going with him, almost skipping too when he led her and Ivan to a more private area.
They are currently in the park, the trio sitting by a park bench, not many people around so they can converse freely. Valeria sat beside Julian, hand clasped together and smiled widely while Julian tried his best to explain the situation to her, she just nodded...too bad for Julian, Valeria did understand him just that she's so set on picking him up that she's not amenable to reason.
Ivan just watched them and somewhat felt pity towards Julian, who wouldn't? The young lad was just minding his own business on an ordinary sunny day only for his peaceful day to be smashed by his eccentric employer. Don't get him wrong...he respects and cares for his Madame and he knows she's a very kind woman but sometimes her shenanigans are hard to get on with...Ivan knows she only means well when it comes to her proposal but she can't really force anyone to marry Master Mikael.
Their Master...ahh...he's been too busy with business ever since that incident happened, drowning himself with business trips and meetings every day. He's always out of the house and doesn't even have enough time to meet the Madame...maybe that's why she's so desperate to find a partner for him...to take care of him and keep him in line. Ivan looked at Valeria's smiling face and felt a bit of sadness in his heart...Valeria is a mother and it's only natural for her to be worried about her child...he understands that even thought of helping out to convince Julian but kept his mouth shut.
Because in the end, Julian is the one who needs to decide.
"Actually, I have persuaded him to meet up with countless people for a while now but none of them piqued his interest," Valeria started, putting her hand on her cheek and sighing, Ivan looked like he wanted to add 'It's because he doesn't have the time to get to know them,' but didn't speak nor move from where he sat, "Maybe because all of them came from prominent families and he doesn't want a partner that will only use him for convenience, that's what I came out here to look for a suitable partner for him! I even left a message on his phone informing him of it," she said, smiling at Julian,
"So I'm sure he will make time---ah! I forgot to introduce myself, I'm Valeria Albrecht, this man here is my driver and butler, Ivan Kushinov," she gestured towards Ivan, finally realising they haven't even acquainted themselves, Ivan gave Julian a curt bow, "What's your name young man?" She asked.
Even thought he said it would be better to discuss this in a private place, Julian was not sure where to lead this finely dressed lady and her bodyguard. So he settled for the nearby park because it certainly would give them the privacy of the open space while being in a public setting because he doesn't think it would be a good idea to be in a closed off space with this seemingly influential yet senile lady. Julian had nothing against the lady but he certainly doesn't want to accidentally offend her in any way and be held liable for something he was dragged into.
Julian listened to the woman talking, deciding to give it all of his attention when the word 'prominent families' came up because it appeared his assumption of the woman's social standing was correct based on the way she dressed herself. Of course that doesn't mean he judged people based on how they looked, it was just there was this effortless grace to the lady that came with class and influence. The way she carried herself with, despite the eccentric behaviour that had Julian assuming she had a few screw loose, just screamed confidence that was backed by unshakable influence.
If Julian had learnt anything from doing all sorts of jobs over the years, it was that people like her could easily switch at the flip of the coin and was not to be underestimated no matter how she portrayed herself as. If Julian had felt pity over the lady's presumed senility before, he felt weary to know he was interacting with someone who probably has enough money and influence to make his life hell if he offends her in any way.
"My name is Julian Vance, Ma'am. I would say nice to meet you but right now I'm honestly confused and conflicted because it is not everyday one gets publicly proposed to by a prospective in-law." Julian decided to use humour as both deflection and coping method to deal with the insanity of the situation.
"It's a pleasure to meet you, my dear," she took Julian's hand in a hand shake before resting it gently on the white haired man's lap, "Oh don't stress too much about it, all I want you to do is to meet my son, you can think about my proposal later~" Valeria said, her smile still intact, it seems she has decided to backtrack with her offer a bit, only a bit, from marriage to meeting up with her son.
Ivan felt relieved that his Madame decided to do that because Julian looked like he had a hard time trying to gently reject her...maybe this idea will be easier for him?
"Now my mind is clear, I think suddenly making you marry each other tomorrow is so fast," she said, tapping her cheek with her perfectly manicured finger, "For a marriage to be a success, two people need to get to know each other and form a sort of trust and connection," she nodded to herself as if proud of this decision she made, "So what do you say, my dear Julian, will you meet my son?"
And again with her puppy dog eyes.
Despite what the woman, Valeria, said, it was hard for Julian to not stress about it because he didn't expect for his day to go sideways like this. The earlier event that lead to him getting fired was nothing new to him because he was used to hopping from one job to another over the years but this sudden proposal and offer to matchmake him to her son was just so bizarre that Julian still thought he was getting punked and there was some hidden camera around that was zooming in on his reaction.
The shock of hearing Valeria saying that she initially planned on shotgun marrying him to her son made Julian's breath go the wrong pipe and he couldn't help but cough to clear it. Sue him but that was far too bizarre of a thing to suddenly hear and there was no way he could wrap his head around that. Julian felt like he was being swept away by this woman's pace, she was akin to the unstoppable tsunami, and nothing Julian said could deter her from what she clearly already set her mind to. So how was he supposed to respond to this and not accidentally offend her?
Perhaps it would be better to just meet her son like she asked and then have her son be the one to decline the arrangement because from what he had heard, he had already done so many times before. Yes, this would be the best outcome for now. "I'll agree to the meeting with the condition of no compensation needed for my time, Ma'am. I happen to have free time right now and would be honoured to meet your son." He carefully said because it felt wrong to receive monetary compensation from someone who was bombarding him with earnest pleading eyes that tugged at his heartstring. It was not like he was losing anything by agreeing to this meetup.
And with that Valeria almost jumped up and down but Ivan managed to restrain her from doing so, she just recently got out of the hospital and he really doesn't want to be the bearer of grave news if her hyperactivity happens to send her back to the hospital.....her running away from him already is enough to give him a heart attack.
"Fantastic! Ivan, get the car!" The blonde woman said happily, taking Julian's hand and practically dragged him to where Ivan parked the expensive car...the only thing that Julian might be thankful about, since Valeria seems to be a rich lady, is that she didn't actually bring a limousine...her car is a normal kind....but a very expensive one. Ivan opened the door for them and Valeria got in the passenger seat, patting the space beside her for Julian to sit.
"Come come~ Kael is working at home right now so we can meet him there," she said, taking Julian's hand and making him sit beside her, even putting his seatbelt on for him before putting hers on. When Ivan was sure that the duo were seated comfortably, he got on the driver's seat and started the car, thus starting their journey to Albrecht manor.
"Are you sure we're not taking you away from any plans or appointments?" Valeria asked halfway to their journey, realising that maybe Julian was supposed to go to a school meeting or something, he does look like he can still be studying in a university...if not maybe the lad was going to meet up with someone.
Ivan looked at them in the rearview mirror before concentrating again on the road, the houses have disappeared, the view now is just tall white fences with occasional trees and lamps lights that line the sidewalk.